Bring on the parasitic wasps and hoverflies: Riverford embraces regenerative farming

Harvesting organic spring onions at Riverford’s Wash farm in Devon. The fields have two years of growing vegetables with three years off for the soil to rest. Photograph: Joanna Furniss/Riverford

In a field full of polytunnels containing row after row of tomatoes and cucumbers, laminated sheets covered in images that look like police mugshots are prominently displayed. Pictured are a list of “friends and foes”.

The “foes”, according to Riverford Organic Farmers, are aphids, spider mites and thrips. The “friends” are predatory and parasitic wasps, lacewings, ladybirds and hoverflies. There is no mention of herbicides and insecticides, which most farmers would consider friends. Crops have no signs of disease thanks to a system that has taken years to fine-tune, says the company’s founder, Guy Singh-Watson. “Attention to detail,” he says. “It’s good farming, really.”